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New website for Call Billy and Short Cuts

It’s been a crazy nine months trying to get Call Billy and Short Cuts published and I’ve neglected writing posts of any kind.

Finally, next week, they will both be available to buy. The e-book and paperback versions are available from Amazon (and all the other e-retailers), but as well as Amazon, you can buy the paperback versions from my new website (built by Steve:) sammccoll.co.uk. And I hope you do.

The website is in it’s infancy right now because we had thought to sell through WordPress, but they wanted a yearly subscription, so we decided to move elsewhere.

So why sell the books myself? (Only continue if you’ve an interest in self publishing and some of the uncomfortable choices to be made along the way.)

Let me explain the Amazon process for selling paperbacks. I have signed up to the Advantage Programme. This programme is well supported by Amazon and it’s easy to speak with someone at any time. Along with this, Amazon promises to push Advantage products – to increase visibility across their platforms. Advantage is good for the punter. It subscribes to Amazon Prime and Amazon customer care. It’s a more professional platform than the marketplace, and my books will get included in the ‘Customers who bought this also liked this…’ initiative. And I need to look professional. The down side is, the number of books I’m asked to send them depends on the number of clicks it receives in any given location, and there are perhaps 30 depots around the country. Right now I’m getting orders for one book, and posting one book costs me £3. I receive £3.40 in royalties. Forty pence does not cover printing costs. So until I’m asked for more than one book, I end up taking a hit on every sale. The maths is the same for Short Cuts – until orders build, I lose money.

And even if I did decide to sell through the Market place, there are all kinds of hidden costs. If I don’t want to post every item myself, I have to use the Amazon Fulfilment centre and then you incur storage, returns… It’s far less transparent.

Of course I could have used Amazon to publish on demand. They do all the work for you, though I’m not certain if they push your product. But I would need to buy every author copy for readings – and it’s five times my own print costs – the quality is inferior and I’d rather not loose control. But who knows – the leviathan may claw me in, in the end. I’ll keep you posted.

I do make royalties from the e-book, so things might even out over time – no one ever said it was going to be a breeze, but if you would like to buy the paperback version of either book, do please consider buying it from sammccoll.co.uk – and before you do, do please call Billy on 078992 32007….

Hi. Phew, and thanks for buying call Billy…did you call him?
Very occasionally I write a story or review a book. Can i add you to my mailing list for these rare updates….
Let me know how you get on.
And cheers!